Covington Capital Management trimmed its holdings in NextEra Energy Inc (NYSE:NEE) by 1.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 84,305 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 917 shares during the period. Covington Capital Management’s holdings in NextEra Energy were worth $13,168,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in NEE. Taylor Hoffman Wealth Management bought a new position in shares of NextEra Energy in the fourth quarter valued at $106,000. D Orazio & Associates Inc. bought a new position in shares of NextEra Energy in the fourth quarter valued at $113,000. Risk Paradigm Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of NextEra Energy by 108.1% in the third quarter. Risk Paradigm Group LLC now owns 851 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $125,000 after buying an additional 442 shares in the last quarter. Archford Capital Strategies LLC lifted its stake in shares of NextEra Energy by 76.9% in the second quarter. Archford Capital Strategies LLC now owns 10,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $128,000 after buying an additional 4,347 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cerebellum GP LLC bought a new position in shares of NextEra Energy in the fourth quarter valued at $128,000. 76.50% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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A number of research analysts have weighed in on NEE shares. Argus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $173.00 price objective on shares of NextEra Energy in a research note on Tuesday, December 5th. They noted that the move was a valuation call. Credit Suisse Group started coverage on shares of NextEra Energy in a research note on Thursday, December 7th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $173.00 price objective on the stock. Zacks Investment Research raised shares of NextEra Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $178.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, December 12th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of NextEra Energy from $173.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 13th. Finally, Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $177.00 price objective on shares of NextEra Energy in a research note on Wednesday, January 3rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. NextEra Energy has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $161.75.

NextEra Energy Inc (NYSE:NEE) traded up $2.48 on Wednesday, hitting $157.15. 415,455 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,188,460. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 0.64 and a quick ratio of 0.52. NextEra Energy Inc has a one year low of $127.09 and a one year high of $159.64. The company has a market capitalization of $72,685.88, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.58, a P/E/G ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 0.32.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 26th. The utilities provider reported $1.25 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.31 by ($0.06). NextEra Energy had a net margin of 31.28% and a return on equity of 11.50%. The firm had revenue of $4.01 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.18 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.21 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. analysts predict that NextEra Energy Inc will post 7.73 earnings per share for the current year.

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 27th will be given a $1.11 dividend. This is a positive change from NextEra Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 26th. This represents a $4.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.83%. NextEra Energy’s payout ratio is currently 38.98%.

In other NextEra Energy news, CEO Armando Pimentel, Jr. sold 9,250 shares of NextEra Energy stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.83, for a total value of $1,404,427.50. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Charles E. Sieving sold 2,844 shares of NextEra Energy stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.67, for a total transaction of $439,881.48. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 48,966 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,573,571.22. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 25,984 shares of company stock worth $4,006,149. Insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

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NextEra Energy Company Profile

NextEra Energy, Inc (NEE) is a holding company. The Company is an electric power companies in North America and, through its subsidiary NextEra Energy Resources, LLC (NEER) and its affiliated entities, is the generator of renewable energy from the wind and sun. NEE also owns and/or operates generation, transmission and distribution facilities to support its services to retail and wholesale customers, and has investments in gas infrastructure assets.